New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in February, closed at $US94.37 ($A107.32) a barrel on Friday, an increase of 41 US cents ahead of the long holiday weekend.

The US market is closed Monday in observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr holiday.

European benchmark Brent North Sea crude, trading on the first day of the March delivery contract, gained 73 cents to settle at $US106.48 a barrel in London trade.

PRECIOUS METALS

Platinum has snapped higher on concerns about reduced supply as a South African union threatened to strike at platinum mining companies.

Platinum for April delivery, the most actively traded contract, rose $US22.60, or 1.6 per cent, to settle at $US1,454.10 a troy ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement since November 7.

South Africa's Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union said this week that its members at Lonmin, the world's third-largest platinum producer, plan to issue a 48-hour strike notice on Monday. The union also plans to deliver a strike notice to Impala Platinum Holdings, the No 2 platinum producer, in the next week, and hold meetings with workers at top producer Anglo American Platinum.

Gold prices climbed in the wake of Friday's much weaker-than-expected reading on the US labour market, but gave back much of those gains this week after data showing stronger pockets of US manufacturing activity.

Gold for February delivery, the most actively traded contract, rose $US11.70, or 0.9 per cent, to settle at $US1,251.90 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the Nymex.

BASE METALS

Copper futures have closed higher on the London Metal Exchange (LME) as investors raised their exposure to the metal ahead of the weekend.

The LME's three-month copper contract on Friday was up 0.4 per cent at $US7,339 a metric ton at the close of open-outcry trading.

Aluminium closed 1.3 per cent higher at $US1,821.5 while nickel was steady at $US14,695.

It is set to be a busy and potentially volatile start to next week, with a raft of Chinese economic data due out over the weekend, including gross domestic product, industrial output and manufacturing sentiment surveys.

The US markets are closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King Jnr public holiday.

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